Paradise
by Jude Rigby
Summary: While working to cure a disease in Thailand, Stephen and Natalie find out that the tropical setting effects more then their health. Nathen romance and hints of Meva pairing.
1. Chapter One: Long Flight

A/N: I'm not a medical doctor, so obviously there are going to be mistakes. And I can't remember every single detail on the show so there will be mistakes there too (maybe).

A/N 2: This is my first foray into writing for this show, and I am a definite Nathen shipper. Please review so I know if I should continue this story.

Chapter One

Standing in the doorway of his empty apartment, Dr. Stephen Connor prepared himself for another trip for the NIH. He wasn't looking forward to this particular case; it was an out of country assignment and since most of his team was ill (luckily with just the flu); only he and Natalie would be able to go. His cell phone rang at that point and he shook himself out of his reverie. He answered his cell phone and was surprised to hear his partner, Dr. Natalie Durant on the other end.

"Where are you Stephen?" Natalie asked, sounding impatient.

"I'm on my way Natalie," he replied. "Just was wondering if I should bring my Hawaiian shirts or not." He smiled when Natalie laughed and then became serious. "Are the others still sick?"

"Yeah, it's more then a 24 hour virus," Natalie said. She looked out the windows she was standing next to and then told him, "Hurry Steve, they're getting the plane set and the pilot's nervous."

"Be there in a few," Stephen said. He hung the phone up and then hurried down to his car. As he drove to the airport and then to the hanger, he thought about the case he was about to leave on. There were symptoms that were close to the flu, but there was a high rate of smallpox like pustules that appeared on each victim's body. He hoped that it wasn't actual smallpox; that would be far worse to figure out to treat.

"I was going to give up on you," Natalie said when she saw Stephen walk into the small office where she was waiting. She saw the look on his face and frowned. "Everything okay?"

"Sure," Stephen said, nodding tersely at her. He was surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to look at Natalie, he could see she was concerned. "I'll tell you on the plane okay?"

"Okay," Natalie said, agreeing reluctantly. She watched as Stephen went to the small cluster of people standing near the desk in the office. She felt a rush of emotion and then shook her head, looking away from him.

"The plane's set, we can board now," Stephen said. "The pilot's a little worried about landing out there, but I told him we'd be landing in the capital and then the two of us would leave on our own."

"Let's go," Natalie said, pushing aside her feelings. She picked up her handbag and followed Stephen out to the large plane that the NIH used for most of the cases. A few minutes later, she walked over to the shelves that were used for luggage and bags. She shoved her small handbag onto the shelf just above her head, she gave an annoyed grunt in the back of her throat when it fell back down towards her and then tried again.

"Here," a voice said behind her suddenly.

Natalie whirled around and watched as Stephen put the bag on the shelf and it stayed. "Thank you," she said, grinning up at him. "Never had a problem with that before."

"Glad to help," Stephen said, nodding at her. He took her arm and then led her over to the table so she could sit. "Unfortunately for us, we can't use a Concorde, so the plane trip is going to be a pretty long one."

"How long is 'pretty long?'" Natalie asked, leaning her head back against the top of the chair.

Stephen was quiet for a moment, staring across the table at Natalie. He didn't realize it, but soon enough he widened his eyes and looked away from her. "About sixteen hours."

"Glad I brought some books," Natalie said. She was a little uncomfortable with the way he'd be staring at her, but she forgot about that when the plane took off.

An hour into their flight, Natalie put the book she'd been reading down on the table and unbuckled her seatbelt. She then got up and started walking, a little unsteadily, around the table. "Where exactly are we going again?" she asked, stopping next to Stephen.

"A little town called Clohet in Thailand," Stephen told her. "The CDC and UN asked us to take this assignment because the people that are getting sick there are all tourists."

"Tourists?" Natalie asked in surprise. "I thought this was… Resort right?"

"Yeah," Stephen said, smiling that she figured it out to quickly. "I was never much a resort man."

"I have no idea if I'm a fan of them," Natalie said with a smile. "I stayed behind in Florida for that. And I got to work with the weird paints."

"We have a lot of interesting stories Nat," Stephen said, smiling up at her. He became serious and then took Natalie's hand, helping her sit in the chair next to his. "I'm sorry that I asked you to come out so far."

"It's okay," Natalie said, surprised at his words. "This is my job Steve; it's what I want to do."

Stephen slipped his hand away from hers and sat back in his chair. Thinking for a long moment, he then said, "Natalie, I wasn't really concerned about where we're going."

"Okay," Natalie replied softly. She leaned over in her chair and gently touched his hand. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I got a call from my ex," Stephen finally said. "She chewed me out about not visiting when I can and… told me she's going to have my visits changed from weekly to monthly."

"Oh Stephen," Natalie said, her heart breaking for him. She got on her knees on the floor in front of him and clutched his hands in hers. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Stephen said. He made her stand up and then stood up with her. "It's my own fault and I have to pay for it."

"No, don't be like that Steve," Natalie said, shaking her head. "Your ex has to know that you can make every single visit."

"Lisa knows, but I swear that she's trying to turn Jack against me," Stephen said. He sighed sadly, thinking about his son and then he turned towards the table. "I-" he started to say when he had gotten control of his emotions. He was cut off quickly when all of a sudden Natalie's arms were around him, hugging him tightly. He was taken aback, but then put his arms around her, holding her close to him. "This job has a way of destroying families," he said, laughing shakily.

"Not unless two doctors are together," Natalie said. She felt Stephen stiffen at her words and she almost let go of him, but couldn't do it.

"Maybe," Stephen said slowly.

"I think it would work," Natalie said. She raised her head from his shoulder and looked up into his eyes. She was unable to read his emotions, but was pleased that he didn't let go of her. "If they were in love enough they'd work through everything."

Not saying anything, Stephen let go of his partner, and then walked away from her, trying to calm his heart which was beating rapidly.

Tempted to call out his name, Natalie held back, sitting down lightly in the chair that Stephen had been sitting in. She turned her head and watched him, walk into the lab section of the plane. "We would work it out," she whispered in a low voice, feeling a strong conviction in her own heart.

"Don't worry Miles, we'll get everything set," Stephen said into his cell phone. "I know it's just Natalie and me, but we'll get through it." He listened for a few moments and grinned slightly. "Just get better. I'll call you if anything big comes up." He hung up his phone and then looked around the cabin. On one of the couches against the side, he saw that Natalie was fast asleep, curled up in an almost fetal position. He smiled and then shrugged off the jacket he'd been wearing, intending to follow her example to sleep. He walked over to where the blankets were kept, and took two of them.

Natalie was only half asleep and could sense someone close to where she was. She came fully awake, but kept her eyes closed as the scent of cologne and aftershave reached her nose. She knew immediately that it was Stephen and she tried to slow her heart since she was afraid he'd hear her and know she was awake.

Gently, Stephen placed the wool blanket on top of Natalie and carefully adjusted it until he was satisfied that she was covered enough. "Thank you for sticking with me Nat," he said as he sat down in the chair nearest her. "I know I haven't been the best guy to work with, but you've done a wonderful job. I just wish…" He stopped and then leaned back in his chair, not wanting to finish his thought. Extremely tired, his eyes began to droop and he eventually fell asleep.

Once she was sure that Stephen's breathing was slow and deep, Natalie opened her eyes and got up from under the blanket. She took it in her hand and walked over to him. Smiling as she studied his peaceful face, she placed the blanket on top of him and then leaned over impulsively. When she felt the skin of his cheek on her lips, she felt a shiver go through her and she pulled back abruptly. "Sleep well Stephen, you deserve the rest," she whispered. She sat on the couch and pulled the other blanket around her body as she studied him. And not too much time later, her eyes closed and she slept deeply too.

Towards the end of their flight, Stephen woke up to find that there was something over him. He reached up with his hand and felt the wool of a blanket. He recognized it as the one he'd covered Natalie with and then he became confused. '_Last night, I could have sworn…_" he thought to himself. '_That someone kissed me. It felt so _real_, but would Natalie really do that?_' He looked at her and then found himself staring again and thinking intently. He'd always been attracted to his partner; he knew that she was a beautiful woman. But he had never wanted to act on the feelings he had when he looked at her, or was around her. And when his marriage had dissolved; he'd been tempted to speak to Natalie about his affection for her, but then she'd had her patient Barret that he thought she was interested in. He had no idea now if she still felt the same about the man and even if she didn't; he wasn't sure if she would feel the same about him.

Stephen recalled their conversation earlier and then he suddenly decided on one thing. He was in love with Natalie Durant and had been for a long time now. With that thought, he got up and walked out of the room, going up to the cockpit to ask how much longer until they touched down in Thailand.

Stretching her body right after Stephen had left; Natalie opened her eyes and saw that she was alone. She stood up quickly and was going to look for her partner when he appeared back in the room. "I was just going to see where you went," she said, a little startled.

"We'll be landing in about a half hour," Stephen answered. "You sleep okay?"

"Fine, what about you?" Natalie asked, wondering why they were both so awkward with each other.

"Perfectly for a change," Stephen answered. He looked down into her eyes and smiled a little when she did so to him.

'_He's so handsome. I can't believe he hasn't gotten another girlfriend now that he's single again_," Natalie thought. She had fallen in love with Stephen the instant that she met him, but she kept her feeling secret since she didn't think he would return her love.

"You okay?" Stephen asked, sounding worried for a minute. He felt relieved when she nodded and was going to say something else when he stopped. He wasn't sure, but he felt like he and Natalie were standing closer together. He swallowed hard then and began to lean down towards her, staring at her lips.

Before the two could kiss, the pilot came on over the PA and announced their landing in Bangkok, Thailand in a matter of minutes.

The doctor's seemed to jump and, both embarrassed, hurried to the table and sat in chairs to get themselves ready for the decent. They immediately started thinking about their case, but in the back of their minds, they were thinking about each other.


	2. Chapter Two: Road to Clohet

A/N: Again, there are probably mistakes in this story, and I'm really sorry about that, but I can't be perfect can I? (That's a redundant question). Also, I've never been to Thailand so I'll make up stuff there. And to answer the question I got in one review, I myself have never heard Stephen call Natalie 'Nat' nor Natalie call him 'Steve;' but since it's pretty tedious having them call each other by their full names constantly, I have them calling each other by nicknames.

A/N 2: Thanks to these people for reviewing and giving me the necessary inspiration to continue this: sugarsnap591, Teyla Sheppard and SarahKathryn. Please review if you want me to keep writing!

Chapter Two

Climbing into a Land Rover, Natalie watched Stephen as he spoke with a driver through an interpreter. The instant she and her partner had landed in the Bangkok Airport, they found that they had no guide to drive them to the resort in Clohet. The news of the sickness in the small town had spread around the country, and everyone they talked to would not agree to drive them.

"Natalie," Stephen said, walking up to the passenger side where she was sitting. "We have a big problem."

"He won't take us?" Natalie guessed. When Stephen nodded in assent, she sighed deeply. "What will we do?"

"The interpreter gave me a map," Stephen said, holding it up. "I'm not sure about driving on the other side of the car, but that's not so much a problem for me as actually getting there."

"Let me see," Natalie said. "I used to go on weekend drives while I went to Stanford." She took the map and opened it out on her lap, catching the expression on Stephen's face. "What?" she asked with a smile.

"What do weekend drives have to do with getting to Clohet?" Stephen asked.

"I learned to read maps, very well," Natalie said. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and then bent her head to the open map.

Leaning over to watch, Stephen heard her whispering softly to herself and he couldn't help but smile slightly. Natalie would usually do this when she was in the lab or working on an autopsy; he knew that it was her way of figuring out things. He kept quiet, letting her think, and let his eyes roam over her face. His gaze finally lingered on her eyes and he remembered when they had been on the plane; when they had nearly kissed. He shuddered in pleasure at the memory of the intensity in her eyes, and he got the attention of his partner.

"Steve?" Natalie asked worriedly, looking up at him. "Are you alright?" She frowned when he nodded, but went no further and looked back down at the map. "Okay, I think we can get there."

"Show me how, I'll drive there," Stephen said then.

"Is that a macho thing?" Natalie asked with a smile, looking up at him.

"Sure, now come on, we need to get going," Stephen said, trying not to sound too impatient.

"Alright, take it easy," Natalie said, reaching over and touching his hand briefly. "Now, what we'll need to do is get out of Bangkok, we can just take the main highway out of here. Then we'll follow it until it turns into a dirt road and…"

Stephen paid close attention to Natalie as she told him the way to the town. But he found himself slightly distracted when she showed the final roads into town. For the first time since he'd gone over to tell her about their predicament, he was aware of their close proximity. Leaning his head down a little more, he was able to take a surreptitious sniff of her hair and perfume. He was able to recognize the scents she was wearing immediately; roses and lavender. He swallowed hard then, and realized that Natalie was looking at him.

"Did you get the last bit of directions?" she asked, looking up into his eyes.

"Yeah, I think I'll be able to get us there," Stephen said, becoming slightly flustered at almost being caught. He straightened up and took the map to take one last look at it, hoping he would be able to see the last part of their trip that she had pointed out.

"Stephen?" Natalie asked. "We should go now."

"Sorry, just wanted to make sure," Stephen said. He folded the map a little and then handed it over to his partner. "I want you to hold this while we're on the way. Just in case I need a refresh of memory."

"Okay," Natalie said with a smiled. She reached up and took the map; and in the process brushed her fingers against Stephen's. Her breath caught in her throat and she glanced up at him to see his reaction. She was startled to see that he was staring straight into her eyes, as if he was trying to see what she was thinking, what she was feeling as they touched. "W-we need to go," she said, breaking the moment. She took the map out of his hand and held it in her own.

Carefully closing the car door, Stephen walked around to the driver's side; which was on the opposite side since the car was from England; and called out to the woman who had been interpreter for him while he had looked for a driver. "Are you coming with us?" he asked her.

"I can not, my parents would be very frightened for my health," she answered him in heavily accented English. "I am sorry Doctor Connor."

Nodding brusquely, Stephen got into the driver's seat and closed the door. "I hope someone can speak English over there," he said as he started the car.

"There should be," Natalie commented. But that was all she said as the car pulled forward and they drove to the main highway next to the airport. She kept her eyes on the windshield, wanting to take in as much of the city and then the country as they drove. She had always been interested in Southeast Asia and her countries, but never thought she would be able to go.

"It looks primitive kind of," Stephen commented as they left Bangkok behind. He watched as Natalie stared around them and smiled to himself. She looked like a young girl with her enthusiasm.

"It is a third world country," Natalie said. "At least the small towns are. Bangkok is pretty well developed."

"You've read about this place?" Stephen asked.

"A little bit here and there," Natalie said. "I used to watch the Travel Channel before I joined your team."

"I see," Stephen said. "I'm sorry that your first time here is for work."

"Oh well, maybe when things die down I can take a quick look around before we go back," Natalie said, shrugging.

"I can make sure you get the chance," Stephen said, keeping his eyes on the road. He could tell from the corner of his eye that Natalie was looking at him and he let a little smile turn up the corners of his mouth.

"You don't have to do that, I'm sure there will be another assignment back home that we'll need to get to," Natalie said.

"With the team sick, I can ask for a break for the two of us until everyone's better," Stephen said. "It wouldn't be a problem Nat."

"Okay," Natalie finally said, relenting. "Are you going to stay too if you can get us time off?"

"If you don't mind my company," Stephen said, trying to keep any emotion from his voice.

"I don't mind," Natalie said softly. "Actually, I would love it if you could stay at the resort the same time I did." She had wanted to say, 'If you could stay with me,' but that would have been going too far.

"I'll try my best Natalie," Stephen said. He glanced over at her quickly and then saw she was fiddling with the map in her hands.

"Thanks," Natalie finally said after a few minutes. She looked at Stephen and resisted the urge to kiss him on the cheek like she had done on the flight. Instead, she reached over to the steering wheel and covered his left hand with her own, squeezing gently. "Thank you," she repeated, her voice a little more then a whisper.

Stephen tried not to loose his concentration on driving, but he was able to respond to her. He moved his right hand and then lightly squeezed her hand that was on top of his other one. He slid it away a second later, but let it linger, their skin's contact making a soft noise that was almost deafening to them both in the car.

Leaning back in her seat, Natalie felt her stomach fluttering wildly and her heart beating almost in her throat. Never before had she and Stephen been so close in contact before; at least their skin had never touched like that. They had hugged sometimes and she would squeeze his shoulder in comfort or companionship, but that was all. The feeling of his rough palm on the back of her soft skin had unfazed her greatly. She had built up a wall around her heart when it came to Stephen Connor, but in a matter of seconds, he had completely destroyed it. She began to feel a faint flicker of hope, that maybe, just maybe, he could feel something; love; for her. Quickly, she suppressed that hope as best she could and turned to look out the passenger side window, trying to ignore her feelings.

After that, the car became deadly silent, each doctor thinking their own thoughts; a mix of what they had ahead of them in Clohet and what they were starting to uncover about each other's feelings.

* * *

After four hours of driving, Stephen realized that they were getting even closer to the village. And he also realized he had no idea how he had to complete the journey. When Natalie had been pointing out the directions, it was at this point he'd been distracted. He opened his mouth to ask her where he was supposed to go; if there were any side roads he needed to turn down; when he saw that she was fast asleep, leaning against the door on her side.

Facing forward, he took a deep breath and concentrated on the road again. He felt tempted to stop the car and take the map from her, but he didn't want to disturb her since she was still asleep. But eventually, he started to worry about what would happen if he got themselves lost; the possibility that one of the patients waiting for them would die in that time; and he pulled onto the side of the road. Turning to Natalie, he took a quick moment to watch her.

Stephen reached over with his hand to get the map, but paused. He frowned at the temptation rising in him, but then shook his head. Trying again to take the map, he stopped, just watching her. '_You're wasting time_,' his mind screamed to him. Thinking for a second, he finally sighed softly and moved his hand up instead of down to the map in Natalie's hands. He tried his best to keep his breathing low, but when his fingertips came into contact with her hair that was on her cheek, he felt his heart speed up considerably. He noticed that Natalie murmured gently in her sleep and he pulled away after he'd tucked the hair behind her ear. He let his fingertips brush along her cheek and felt a kind of electric shock before he moved away completely.

Once he had the map in his hands a moment later, Stephen unfolded the paper and scanned it hurriedly. He tried to figure out where exactly they were, but he was having a hard time with the roads. Most were so small that they looked like they ran together as one. He soon found the 'highway' he had stopped on, but he couldn't tell what road he needed to take at an upcoming fork. Debating in his mind for a moment, Stephen realized he had no other choice and he gently placed his hand on Natalie's shoulder, shaking her a little to wake her up. He watched as she moved and was taken aback when she turned her head towards him, remaining asleep.

Sighing again, Stephen cupped her face with his hand near her and couldn't help but smile as Natalie sighed herself. He let himself stroke her skin a moment but then drew away as he called her name to wake her up.

Opening her eyes, Natalie was a little confused at first at where she was exactly, but finally she remembered that she was in Thailand and with Stephen. Moving her eyes, she saw his blue ones staring intently at her. "Where are we?" she asked as she sat up straight in her seat.

"I'm not that sure," Stephen admitted. "I know we're on the Phohen road, but there's a fork coming up, I don't know where to go."

"Oh, well just take the one on the left," Natalie said after thinking a moment. She rubbed her eye for a moment and then smiled. "So you were paying attention to me earlier huh?"

Stephen shrugged, covering up his embarrassment that she'd caught him, and then started the car again. He drove quickly, since it was getting later in the day and soon enough he saw the fork in the road. Very easily, he turned to the left and continued on for another fifteen minutes before he turned to Natalie. "Any other roads now?" he asked.

"No, this is the one that goes direct to Clohet," Natalie answered. She looked out the windshield and cried in horror, "Stephen look out!"

Looking at the road, Stephen saw the car that was parallel to the road, stalled out. "Shit, hold on Natalie!" he yelled. He pressed down on the brakes, but since the roads were wet from a recent rain, the braking time was delayed. He pumped on the pedal instinctively, and felt the car start to hydroplane on the road. Hearing Natalie screaming, he tried to stop the car again, but it was no use. The Land Rover slid to the stalled car, and he threw himself on top of Natalie slightly since it was going to impact on his side.

Closing her eyes tightly, Natalie braced herself and the instant their car hit the other one; she heard the crunch of metal and breaking sound of glass. She thought to herself, '_We hit the car, it's going to stop right now and we'll be okay_.'

The car twisted around, leaving the dirt road and plunging into the jungle on the side. The slight incline in the land made the Land Rover flip over once, twice and then third and final time as its passengers were ejected from it.

When Natalie realized that she wasn't moving any more, she opened her eyes and took stock of herself. "No, bones broken," she murmured. "No sprains." Slowly she sat up and realized that despite cuts on her forehead and arms, she was fine. "Stephen," she said to herself. She got up and looked around her, spying a patch of white in the green grass and brown earth. Running over to it, she could see that it was her partner; and he was unconscious. "Oh no, oh god," she whispered. Getting on her knees next to him, she looked over his body. She could see that there weren't any visible broken bones or sprains, but he had a gash on his arm that would need stitches and a cut on his temple that was nearly gushing blood along with other cuts.

Her first instinct at that point was to lie down next to him and sob uncontrollably. But that feeling quickly dissipated and was replaced with the firm belief she needed to do what she could to help him. She ran over to the Land Rover, which was completely totaled, and grabbed all the equipment and two small bags that were hers and Stephen's. Taking two boxes, she ran back to her partner and set out to work. Gently she pressed a square piece of gauze to his temple, she stared at his face while she waited, and remembered that he had tried to cover her body with his own before the crash and her emotions flared up again.

Natalie brushed it away and while she began to stitch up his wounds, a single tear snaked its way down her cheek. That was all the emotion that she showed and that was it until she was finished.

It took her almost an hour, but finally, the last cut on Stephen's body was treated and she was satisfied that those were all the wounds he'd sustained. Her body started to scream at her because it was feeling intense exhaustion; she ignored that and then started to treat herself. She was lucky because none of her cuts were as serious as his were, so she soon finished. Sitting on her knees next to her partner, she tried to think of what she needed to do now. She was at a loss though, and finally gave into her earlier temptation. She lay down on the muddy earth next to Stephen and lay her head on his uninjured shoulder, getting as close to him as she could. Shivering from the cold as dusk settled around them, she cried silently, hoping that he would come out of unconsciousness soon.

Luckily her wish was granted and Stephen was shortly groaning loudly in pain as he came to. Opening his eyes slowly, he felt various areas of his body throb in dulled pain and he remembered the accident. "Nat?" he asked, tried to sit up.

"Stephen, wait, it's alright," Natalie said quickly, getting on her knees. She watched as he moaned from pain and then lay back on the ground. "I'm okay, and you got some cuts that I had to stitch up."

"Help me up," Stephen said once he'd taken in her words. Once he was sitting up, he looked at her to see if she really was okay. "I'm sorry for crashing."

"It's okay," Natalie said. "Believe it or not, I got in an accident the same exact way when I first learned how to drive."

Smiling, Stephen felt laughter well up in his throat and then he started to chuckle. Immediately he felt pain in on his head and then it spread to his whole body. "Oh god," he groaned, leaning forward.

"Take it easy," Natalie said worriedly. She touched the back of his head and then was completely shock at what he did next.

"We have to get to that resort somehow," Stephen said through gritted teeth as he leaned against Natalie. "But we have no car."

"I don't think it's too much further," Natalie said soothingly. She hesitated for a moment and then began to stroke his hair softly.

Closing his eyes, Stephen took comfort in her caress, letting it take away the aches in his body. "I don't know if I can walk," he finally said.

"We can try," Natalie said firmly. "We need to try. I can't let you stay out here and die from exposure."

Stephen wished for a moment that he hadn't been the one who was injured so greatly, but then instantly put it out of his head. He couldn't stand the thought of Natalie hurt badly; he could barely take the fact that she had been wounded. "And you too, I'm in charge of you, so-" he started to say.

"Shh, we'll rest for a while, and then try to go," Natalie said. She closed her eyes then and rested her cheek on top of his head while her fingers started to play a little with his hair. She was starting to feel pain from her wounds, so she thought nothing of how close they were, or how much either one of them was enjoying this.

Ten minutes after that, the peace of the jungle was broken when there was the sound of a car on the road.

"Stephen, that's got to be help," Natalie said, opening her eyes. She didn't move though, and instead wrapped her arms around him carefully. "Help! We're down here!"

"Dr. Connor?" a male voice said as he appeared above them on the edge of the road. "Dr. Durant?"

"Yes, help us, Dr. Connor's been injured," Natalie said. When the man left her view, she looked down at Stephen, whose eyes were closed. "Stephen, stay with me okay? I'll get you to a bed I promise."

Despite her pleading, Stephen was unable to cooperate and his body slipped into unconsciousness as he reached up to touch Natalie's lips with his fingers. Before the blackness consumed him, the last thing he saw was her blue eyes, watching him worriedly and her mouth forming his name as tears ran slowly down her cheeks.


	3. Chapter Three: Resort Outbreak

A/N: Again, I am not a medical doctor, so what I will write about in this story is either gathered from the internet or made up on my own.

A/N 2: A huge, **huge** thank you to the many people who left me reviews: Ellie, SarahKathryn, Teyla Sheppard, Annabelle Crane, sugarsnap591, Arnold Summers, FriendsHolic, nottryingtobemean, moonshine44, maggie05.

A/N 3: I'm sorry that this chapter is so long in coming, but I'm sure you all understand that I cannot post every single day. I have school and another story that I have to work on, but I will try my hardest not to let too much time pass by in between chapters. (And a quick reminder to people, this is a fan fiction story.

Chapter Three

Once Stephen had been settled in the back of the car that had arrived on the road above, Natalie turned to the man she had screamed for to help. "Are you Dr. Richards?" she asked.

"Yes, and I'm so sorry that this happened Dr. Durant," the man said with a light British accent, looking warn and extremely pale. "I didn't know that the rush to leave the resort would create a block in the road. But nevertheless, I'm glad you're here."

"How long will it take to get to the resort?" Natalie said urgently. "Dr. Connor needs a bed and I want to check again to make sure he didn't suffer a concussion in the crash."

"It should take about fifteen minutes," Dr. Richards said. "I could go quicker, but I would run the risk of crashing the car myself."

"Let's go," Natalie said. She turned abruptly and climbed into the back of the Land Rover and saw that the doctor was looking at her. She didn't say anything, turning her attention directly to Stephen. Once of his cuts was bleeding again and she placed a square of gauze over it. The pressure she applied made him grunt slightly in pain and she looked to his eyes, hoping he'd wake up.

Eyes fluttering open and closed rapidly, Stephen could see that Natalie was above him. He saw the worried look on her face and wanted to speak, but he soon found himself enveloped by darkness again.

"If you have a concussion Stephen I'll strangle you," Natalie muttered in disappointment as he slipped into unconsciousness. She was worried that the resort would not have the necessary items to deal with a concussion. If that was the case, then she would be facing a strange disease on her own.

"I was told Dr. Durant, that the NIH had teams of people that went out on cases of outbreaks," Dr. Richards said from the front of the car.

"I don't think the NIH thought your case was quite that serious," Natalie said. "Everyone on the team that I work with is ill and couldn't make the flight."

"Typical," Dr. Richards muttered. "I should have known not to ask for help from America. Look at what help I did get. Maybe if there were American tourists ill then I would have had a whole group of people to help me."

"Dr. Connor is the best there is Dr. Richards," Natalie snapped, annoyed. "You should consider yourself lucky you got him instead of one of the other teams."

"Oh? And what has Dr. Connor done to make him the best?" Dr. Richards asked, looking at Natalie in the rearview mirror.

"Plenty," Natalie said in an even voice. "Just get us to the resort or else you won't have either of us there for help." She completely ignored the doctor then and turned her attention back to Stephen. She placed her fingertips on his cheek and murmured, "Stay with me, you know I can't do this without you."

Pulling up in front of a small, thatched building fifteen minutes later, Dr. Richards called back to Natalie, "We're here Dr. Durant. This is where you and Dr. Connor will stay while you're here."

"Help me get Dr. Connor to the bed inside," Natalie said as the doctor opened the back doors of the Land Rover. "Assuming there is a bed in there."

"The resort isn't primitive Dr. Durant," Dr. Richards said, looking to be irritated. "Take his legs and I'll take the shoulders."

"Be careful of his head!" Natalie cried when she had stepped out of the car and onto muddy ground. She watched Stephen worriedly and didn't realize they had entered the building until she helped Dr. Richards set her partner on the large bed there. Looking around, she was startled to find it was a suite, besides the bed there were other pieces of furniture; two dressers, a mirror and even a desk; and a small area to the side which looked like it was supposed to serve as a kitchen.

"This is one of our honeymoon suites," Dr. Richards was saying. "I know it seems weird, but this is the only free space we have."

"Alright, you'll need to give me some time to check Dr. Connor," Natalie said then. "And then I'll check on the victims okay?"

"I'll give you a half hour Dr. Durant," Dr. Richards said. And with that he left abruptly, walking over to the other thatched buildings that made up the resort.

Standing in the middle of the room, Natalie felt the urge to stretch out on the bed next to Stephen and sleep for the next several days. But she knew that she had her work cut out for her and could not afford to slack off. So instead of lying down, she hurried out to Dr. Richards Land Rover and unloaded all the supplies and luggage she and Stephen had brought with them.

Before she tended to her partner, Natalie took a brief minute to check her wounds in the suite's bathroom. She was pleased that her cuts weren't too serious, and the bruises she'd sustained were only minor. When that was done, she went back into the room and looked through the boxes with medical supplies until she found a syringe and vial. Sitting next to Stephen on the edge of the bed she looked at the head, check to see if there was any trauma there. She couldn't detect any, and then moved on to his cuts. When she took the gauze off the one on his left arm, she was dismayed to see that it was still bleeding. "Blood loss," she murmured, a little relieved that it wasn't a concussion that had caused him to loose consciousness. She only hoped, as she injected him, that the loss wasn't too severe; it would be hard to do a blood transfusion at the resort.

Since there was time before Dr. Richards would return to get her, Natalie went to her backpack she'd brought and found her cell phone. Luckily Stephen had given her a phone that could be used almost anywhere and the resort seemed to be getting good reception. She dialed a number and prayed that the person would pick up.

* * *

Back in the United States, Eva Rossi was carrying a bowl of soup out to the main room of her apartment. She was feeling much better after suffering from a bout of the flu two days earlier. As she sat down on her couch, she leaned against her guest there with her and started to eat. 

"You couldn't get me some?" the man asked.

"You didn't ask for any," Eva replied. She sat up and looked into his eyes saying, "Do you think you could keep it down if I got you a bowl?"

"I have the flu Eva, not food poisoning," the man said teasingly. "And I can get myself some soup."

Eva nodded and scooted over on the couch to let him stand up. "Oh while you're in there, I have some saltine crackers in my pantry," she said quickly.

"I know, you were feeding them to me the other day," Dr. Miles McCabe said with a grin. He reached down and lightly touched Eva's cheek before he walked over to the kitchen.

Setting her soup on the coffee table in front of her, Eva said a mental thanks to whoever had given her and Miles the flu. Since their jobs were understandably hectic, there wasn't too much time for them to be together. They had started 'dating' only a week after they had met, meeting at a local restaurant and walking back to her apartment. Only when they had been going out for two months did they decide to become an actual couple. They kept that fact hidden from the rest of their team, so they could only meet in secret.

The phone rang shrilly then, startling Eva from her thoughts. She reached over to the receiver on the table and answered it, "Eva Rossi."

"Eva? It's Natalie," the voice on the other end said, sounding relieved.

"Natalie? Where are you? Aren't you and Stephen in Thailand?" Eve asked, surprised.

"We are," Natalie said, overjoyed that she had managed to catch Eva. "Look, there's been… an accident and Stephen and I were hurt. Not badly, but right now Stephen's unconscious from blood loss and I'm facing the possibility that I may need to work with this disease at the resort."

Her head spinning from the sudden burst of information, Eva took a minute to think before she said anything. "Why did you call me?" she finally asked.

"I need to know if you, Miles and Frank can get here somehow," Natalie replied. "There's no way I can do this without Ste… without help."

"Well, I know Miles is better," Eva said with a smile as he sat down on the couch next to her just then. "But Frank is still sick."

"Would you guys be willing to come to Thailand?" Natalie asked, her voice taking on a pleading aspect.

Eva glanced at Miles as she said, "Go to Thailand?" When he nodded, she then said quickly, "I'm set for it, and I'll give Miles a call as soon as we come up."

"Thank you Eva," Natalie said, relieved. "Try and get the soonest flight, and once you get here, call me."

"I will, I hope Stephen will be okay," Eva said. She exchanged goodbyes with Natalie and then hung up the phone.

"Why does she need us?" Miles asked immediately.

"She said that she and Stephen were in an accident," Eva answered, standing up. "He's unconscious and she might have to work on her own. She needs our help."

"Do you want me to wait for you to pack?" Miles said, standing in the doorway of Eva's bedroom.

"No, go ahead and get your stuff," Eva replied. "I'll pick you up and we'll go to the airport." She expected to hear him tell her goodbye, but was surprised when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

Kissing her gently on the cheek, Miles pulled away and murmured a 'see you later,' before he left the apartment.

Eva let herself get taken away by the kiss a little, placing her hand on her cheek. Miles had never done that before, and she wondered if he wanted their relationship to be a little closer. She shook that idea out of her head though, and began to concentrate on packing and getting her things ready to leave.

* * *

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Natalie watched Stephen as he breathed deeply in his unconsciousness. She felt relieved that she was soon going to have Miles there to help her, but she wished that Stephen was able to instead. She had nothing against the young doctor, but she would rather work side by side with Stephen. Sighing, she took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently.

"Dr. Durant?" Dr. Richards said, coming into the suite. He saw that she was holding Stephen's hand and he raised one eyebrow.

"What is it?" Natalie asked, her tone of voice harsher then she meant it to be.

"Are you ready to take a look at the sick?" Dr. Richards asked. When Natalie nodded, he held out some scrubs and a face mask. "I don't know if this thing is contagious through personal contact, but I'm sure you don't want to take any chances."

Taking everything, Natalie disappeared into the bathroom to pull on the scrubs. When she was done, she grabbed a case with medical supplies and with a final look at Stephen, left the suite with Dr. Richards.

"The Clohet Resort is relatively new," Dr. Richards explained as they headed towards the largest building there. "It was built about six years ago and has enjoyed moderate success."

"Why is it so close to the village of Clohet?" Natalie asked.

"The owners found the villagers to their liking I suppose," Dr. Richards answered with a shrug. "For workers they were cheaper, and that allowed them to make the rooms more luxurious."

"Has anything like this happened before?" Natalie said.

"No, I can safely say that because I have worked here since this place has opened," Dr. Richards said. "This disease… it strikes everyone."

"When were the first symptoms noticed?" Natalie asked as they walked onto the porch surrounding the building.

"Dr. Durant, before we go in, I have to confess that I lied to the UN and CDC," Dr. Richards said. "This isn't a type of smallpox."

"Why did you do that?" Natalie said in surprise.

"I thought that if the UN thought this was very serious they would send me help quicker," Dr. Richards said. "Not that this disease isn't serious. You see, there are no first symptoms, the people staying here started collapsing, complaining of stomach flu like symptoms and high fevers. It spread through all the way to the village; everyone who's sick is here Dr. Durant."

Natalie felt a twinge of fear as she pulled her mask on, following Dr. Richards inside. She already had her suspicions of what the disease could be, but was not entirely sure of it. When she saw that the doctor had stopped at the top of a small set of stairs, she stepped to the side of him. "Oh my god," she whispered when she looked ahead of her.

There were numerous cots and mattresses piled on the floor of what was supposed to be the resort's ball room. There were two and sometimes even three to a bed, and all the sick were moaning and turning around in delirium from their fevers. A few people, dressed in scrubs and masks like Natalie and Dr. Richards were walking among the ill. From time to time, they would administer drugs to a sicker person and then move on.

"Have you taken blood from these people?" Natalie asked.

"I'm not a full medical doctor," Dr. Richards said. "The most I've treated here was a case of food poisoning; this is entirely beyond my comprehension."

"Who are the people walking around?" Natalie said.

"Two are the people hired to assist me, and the other three are villagers who managed not to get sick," Dr. Richards said. "We gave them medicine to reduce the fevers at first, but it seemed to make them sicker, and induce dizziness and coughing."

"I'll need some blood samples," Natalie said briskly, walking down the steps. "Give me five and I'll see what I can get from there." She walked over to the first cot she came to, and was horrified to see a young girl laying next to a woman who seemed to be her mother. The little girl's eyes were open and she took a chance to speak with her. "Hello," she said calmly, setting down her case. "My name is Natalie, what's yours?"

"_J-je m'appelle Claire_," the girl said hoarsely. She started coughing heavily and it took her several minutes until she was able to stop.

Natalie was grateful for the fact that she knew some French; she might be able to learn something from the girl. In French, she asked Claire, 'Do you remember what happened before you got sick?'

'My mother and I had gone swimming and I was too hot to do anything,' Claire said weakly. 'My mother brought me back to the doctor and I fainted they said.'

"Claire was the first here to get sick," Dr. Richards said to Natalie.

"Get a blood sample from her," Natalie replied. "She might be the key." She patted Claire's arm comfortingly and then stood up. "Was there anything out of the ordinary before Claire got sick?"

"No, the night before was our annual dinner," Dr. Richards said, thinking for a minute. "Actually, now that you mention it, there is the matter of the head chef here. He disappeared after the dinner and hasn't been seen since."

Making a note of that in her mind, Natalie decided that once Eva and Miles got to the resort, they would need to look for the chef. "I want you to try and give them small doses of dinoprost, that should lower their fevers a little."

"Is that it?" Dr. Richards asked, surprised. "You can't-"

"I can't do any more until I know more about this illness," Natalie replied. "You need to get me the blood samples as soon as you can and then I'll be able to try and treat them."

"I'll send them to you as soon as I can," Dr. Richards said as Natalie left the building.

Pulling off her mask, Natalie was completely stumped. She recognized symptoms of malaria in the little girl and her mother, but the cough and dizziness was strange. She wished again that Stephen was well and could take a look himself; he would have a better idea of where they should look for the cause. Walking up to the room Dr. Richards had brought her to earlier, she noticed that the lights inside were on. A little confused, since she hadn't turned them on before leaving, she ran up to the porch and then opened the door. "Stephen!" she cried in surprise.

"I was wondering where you went," Stephen said, sitting in and armchair and tying his shoes. "Where are we? The resort?"

"Yeah, why are you out of bed?" Natalie asked, going to him. "You're hurt you know."

"Not so badly that I can't do my job," Stephen said, he stood up and then noticed the weariness in Natalie's eyes. "Did you see the sick?"

"Yeah, and… Stephen it's not smallpox, Dr. Richards lied about that," Natalie said. "It looks like malaria, but not like any malaria I've seen."

Nodding his head, Stephen was about to walk towards the door of the suite when something held him back. "Natalie I'm fine, I need to take a look at the sick," he said, looking back at his partner.

"There's nothing we can do now," Natalie said. "I want you to sleep okay? You can get to work in the morning; I just want to make sure that you've rested enough."

"I can't sleep while there are people close to dying Nat," Stephen said.

"Please, don't argue with me Steve," Natalie said, sounding tired. "Just for tonight, that's all I'm asking."

"Okay," Stephen said, reluctantly agreeing. "Oh, you got a call on your phone, Eva and Miles should be here tomorrow afternoon."

"I had to call them," Natalie said in explanation. "I was worried you weren't going to be well."

"As long as they're not sick, because you know as well as me they won't be able to help if they are," Stephen said, walking to the bed and sitting on the edge.

"They're better," Natalie said. She felt a little dizzy, but ignored it and walked over to the kitchen area. She was pleased to see there was some food in the small fridge and grabbed a bottle of water along with an apple. "Stephen, there are a lot of people sick."

"I figured," Stephen said. "Why else would there be cars littered on the road if there hadn't been a mass evacuation." He scratched at the edge of the gauze on his face and then said, "Get some sleep Nat, you and I will have to do a lot tomorrow."

Natalie nodded and then walked over to the armchair that Stephen had been sitting in earlier. She toed off her shoes and was going to close her eyes when she felt her self being lifted up. "What are you doing?" she asked sleepily.

"You need to sleep in a bed," Stephen said. "You look exhausted enough." He settled her on the other half of the mattress and then went around to where he'd been sleeping earlier. He was starting to feel tired again, and was glad that Natalie had forced him to rest for the night; he wouldn't be able to work well if he collapsed all of a sudden. Lying down, he barely was able to take off his shoes before his eyes were starting to droop closed already.

"I hope you feel better tomorrow," Natalie was muttering, almost asleep herself. "I can't live without you."

"Neither can I," Stephen said, not noticing the way she had worded that. He whispered good night and was soon fast asleep.


	4. Chapter Four: Add Two and Subtract One

A/N: Again, I am not a medical doctor, so what I will write about in this story is either gathered from the internet or made up on my own.

A/N #2: The text in italics is a flashback.

A/N #3: A huge, **huge** thank you again to the many people who left me reviews: Moon's Tear, RaeAnne, SarahKathryn, Arnold Summers, sugarsnap591, kbandy, moonshine44, Annabelle Crane, Teyla Sheppard

Chapter Four

Natalie was awoken by the sound of someone coughing and mumbling slightly. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself staring straight into Stephen's face. At first she was taken aback for a moment until she remembered where they were. She raised her head, feeling it spin and she started to get up out of the bed.

"Therese," Stephen said in his sleep then, putting a halt to Natalie's plans.

Turning back to look at her partner and saw the pain etched on his face. She felt a pang of sadness for him, because she knew that he was dreaming about when his sister had died. He had shown her pictures of his sister once, and she had expressed her deepest sympathies at that time…

_

* * *

_

_"I know how much she meant to you Steve," Natalie said softly, looking down at the picture of Therese Connor from high school. "And I am so sorry that you had to go through that."_

_Taking back the picture, Stephen looked at it for a moment and then said, "There are a lot of times when you remind me of her you know."_

_"I do?" Natalie asked, surprised._

_"Yeah, she was passionate and very caring," Stephen said. He smiled wryly before he continued saying, "Except her feelings were more about animals then yours are about humans."_

_"I wish I could have met her," Natalie said, a little hesitantly._

_"Me too, she would have really liked you Nat," Stephen said. He pocketed the photo and then stepped forward, placing the rose he had brought on top of his sister's tombstone._

_"I hope it's alright, I brought something," Natalie said then after she watched him for a moment. She walked up to stand next to him and then placed a pure white rose next to Stephen's red one. Looking up at her partner's face, she saw that he was smiling at her, which she quickly returned._

_"Thank you Natalie, for everything," Stephen said gently and he pulled her into a hug._

* * *

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Natalie saw that Stephen was reaching out with his hand, trying to grab at something. She thought for a second and then placed her hand in his. She watched as his fingers lightly squeezed around her and she hoped that he found some solace in her grip.

"Natalie," Stephen whispered then. He slid his hand away from hers and then started opening his eyes. "Natalie?" he asked when he was fully awake. He sat up slowly and watched her get up off the bed, running towards the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just thirsty," Natalie said, hoping her voice wasn't betraying her emotions. Right when Stephen was waking up, she had leaned down, very tempted to place a kiss on his mouth.

"Have Miles or Eva called yet?" Stephen asked, his thoughts turning straight to the sick. "We'll need them here to help us with the ill."

"No, if they got a flight around the time I called them, then they should still be over the Pacific Ocean," Natalie said. "But I think we can manage without them for a few hours."

"Where are you going to set up a lab?" Stephen asked, gathering some fresh clothes from his suitcase.

"In the kitchens," Natalie replied, forgetting her earlier embarrassment quickly. "They're right next to the room where the victims are that way I can work and help you if you need it."

"Let's go then," Stephen said. He disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Natalie by herself in the room.

"Dr. Durant," a muffled voice called outside.

"Come in Dr. Richards," Natalie said. She watched the man walk inside and saw the look on is face. "Did anyone die?"

"No, but I thought you should know, the little girl Claire's fever has gotten higher," Dr. Richards said. "I had to confine her to a cot by herself and bound her wrists and ankles."

"She's delirious?" Stephen asked as he walked out.

"Yes sir, and her mother looks like she could head in the same direction as her daughter," Dr. Richards said. "You are Dr. Connor?"

"I am, Dr. Durant told me you were the one who found us after our accident," Stephen said, in an icy tone of voice. He had already taken a dislike to the doctor, because to him, the man seemed to be a little too interested in Natalie.

"Claire was the first to get sick Stephen," Natalie was saying then. She could tell that Stephen was angry at the man and thought wildly that maybe it was because he was jealous. "Did you manage to get blood samples?"

"Five like you asked for," Dr. Richards said, nodding. "Plus one from Claire."

"Natalie," Stephen said quickly, impatient to go. "I'll help you set up the instruments. The sooner you can do tests the better."

Nodding, Natalie walked with Stephen out of the suite and into the balmy Thailand heat. "Steve," she said, trying to walk as fast as he was. "You know that while we're here we'll need to rely on Dr. Richards. He's been the resort's doctor for six years and saw this when it started."

"Miles and Eva can use his help when they come," Stephen said brusquely. "And if you want to you can have him help you."

Staring at her partner's back as he walked towards the main building, Natalie was sure that Stephen hated Dr. Richards. But still wasn't sure if that it was because of the doctor's ineptitude or due to jealous. She shook her head and then started running to catch up to him.

"I'm hoping that what ever this is isn't communicable," Stephen said to Natalie as they pulled scrubs over their clothes and then masks on the porch of the building. "We can't afford to have one of us getting sick."

"Of course," Natalie said. She followed Stephen inside then and stopped abruptly, nearly running into his back.

"My god," Stephen said, looking over the ballroom floor. "How many people are here?"

"Nearly one hundred," an out of breath voice said behind the two doctors. "Thirty from the resort and almost seventy from the village."

"We need to get to work now," Stephen said firmly, ignoring Dr. Richards but taking in the man's words. "Natalie, come on."

While Natalie and Stephen were working on getting all their equipment set up in the kitchen nearest to the ballroom, Natalie couldn't help steal glances at her partner. He seemed to be very angry about something, and she was dying of curiosity as to what was wrong.

"I'm going out to talk to Dr. Richards," Stephen said. "I know you probably asked him what was going on when this all started, but I'll ask him myself."

"Stephen," Natalie called before he left the room. "If you want to try and talk to the girl who was first to get sick, you'll need someone to translate. She speaks only French."

"I know who to call," Stephen said, nodding to her. He walked out of the kitchen and stood at the edge of the large room. Looking at all the cots, the people there, he felt a brief sense of being overwhelmed.

"Dr. Connor," Dr. Richards said, coming up to him. "Are all your machines set up?"

"Yeah, but have someone else take those samples," Stephen said. "I need to ask you about this."

"But I can't-" Dr. Richards started to say.

Stephen cut him off by taking the vials from his hand and handing them to one of the people helping that had walked up to them. "Take that in to Dr. Durant. Dr. Richards, how did this start?"

"Well the little girl was brought in to the infirmary about two weeks ago," Dr. Richards said. "She had a fever and was shivering one minute, burning hot the next. And soon after that she began coughing."

"Where is she, I'd like to see her," Stephen said. He walked through the cots and mattresses until they reached a cot with only a small, blonde-haired girl on it. He put his stethoscope on and leaned down so he could listen to the girl's heartbeat.

"_S-s'il vous plait_," the girl whispered, sounding scared. "_Maman, je veux ma maman_."

"It's okay Claire," Stephen said soothingly even though he knew she wouldn't be able to understand him. He checked her breathing a few more times in various places on her chest and back and then pulled the stethoscope off. "She looks like she has malaria, all these people do."

"But… I've tried the normal treatments on her for malaria as soon as she came in," Dr. Richards said. "She didn't respond and I was afraid I made her worse."

"No, you didn't, because then the others wouldn't be showing the same symptoms," Stephen replied. "What medicines did you give the little girl and then the others as they came in?"

"Claire I first gave small doses of trandolpril and dalacin for the fever," Dr. Richards said, following Stephen around the maze of people. "But I thought that made her worse so I switched to quinapril and kept that for everyone else."

"Quinapril should have taken care of the fever and coughing," Stephen mused. "But it didn't in this case. There's another cause for this then. Malaria mixed in with something else."

"Is that possible?" Dr. Richards said.

"Actually yes, I handled an outbreak of malaria with cholera," Stephen replied. "It showed up in the blood tests we conducted. And we managed to keep all but two of the six people who got sick from dying."

"I guess that's why Dr. Durant said you were the best," Dr. Richards said, sounding angry. "Does this look like cholera too?"

"If that was it I would have told you as soon as I walked in here," Stephen said. "So would have Natalie. No, this is something else." He looked down at the two people on the cot near where he was standing. They were villagers, a man and a woman, and Stephen knew their fevers were running high as they were mumbling in their native tongue and shivering hard even though both had blankets covering them. "Start everyone on metric 21. That will ease the fevers and give us time to figure this thing out. The box with the medicine is probably in the back of your car still."

"I'll go get it," Dr. Richards said, nodding his head.

Stephen watched the man go and then began to walk back towards Claire, wanting to examine the girl again.

"Steve," Natalie said, coming out from the kitchen. "Stephen," she said softly once she had approached him.

"What is it?" Stephen said, helping Claire drink some water that she had been crying for.

"Miles and Eva are on their way," Natalie said. "They could get a driver like we could, Miles is behind the wheel."

"Did you tell them about the cars on the road?" Stephen asked.

"I did, they said they'll call again when they get to the road block," Natalie said. She felt the world around her blur and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore it.

"Nat?" Stephen asked, standing up. He turned to look at her for the first time since she had come over and instantly became concerned. "Natalie, you look pale. What is it?"

"It's nothing," Natalie said, shaking her head. "I just didn't sleep well enough last night. How is Claire?"

"Natalie, you don't-" Stephen started to say, not satisfied with her answer.

"I'm fine," Natalie said shortly, becoming irritated. But not at Stephen, at her own self since she was feeling dizzy once more. "We have to concentrate here Stephen. Before we lose someone."

"Alright, but promise me you'll tell me if you're sick," Stephen said sternly, staring into her eyes. When she nodded, he then said, "Claire seems to be stable but her fever will probably get worse. I talked with Richards and told him to get some metric 21."

"Hopefully that will help," Natalie said. "He said something about there being a dinner the night before Claire became sick, and that the head chef here is missing."

"That can be our starting point," Stephen said, nodding. He frowned then and said, "If it's in the kitchens you're at risk of getting sick Nat."

"It's a risk Steve, I'll have to take it," Natalie said, shaking her head. She was surprised when Stephen continued frowning and had another wild thought, '_Is he worried about me getting sick because he cares for me?_' But then rational thought set in and she convinced herself he didn't want to lose a member of his team because there would be less help. "I've started the blood tests going on Claire's blood, should be finished in two hours."

"Will you help me distribute the metric 21?" Stephen asked.

"Yeah, I was going to see if I could do that anyway," Natalie said, smiling slightly.

"_Madame_," a harsh whisper came then from the cot next to them.

The two doctors turned their heads to see that Claire was staring up at them, tears on her cheeks.

'Hello Claire, how are you feeling,' Natalie said in French, sitting on the edge of the cot.

'I feel so cold,' the little girl said crying. 'Please ma'am, I want my mother, please!'

"She said that before when I took a look at her," Stephen said, amazed at Natalie's nearly flawless French.

"She's calling for her mother," Natalie said softly. 'Claire, you must be kept here so we can keep watch over you.'

Claire looked up at Stephen and then looked back at Natalie. 'Is he your husband?'

Blushing slightly, Natalie lowered her head and was going to answer when she was interrupted by Dr. Richards coming into the building carrying a box.

"Time to get to work it looks like," Stephen said.

'Rest Claire, and I will bring you some medicine that will help,' Natalie said, patting the child's hand. She stood up and almost fell over as a wave of faintness descended upon her. She felt Stephen run up to her and she tried to push him away. "I'm fine," she kept repeating.

"No you're not," Stephen said. "Let me check you out and see if you've got what's going on here."

"You can't," Natalie protested. "You only have me to help. I'm not sick with this thing, trust me."

"I don't want to see you sick Nat," Stephen said with suck fervor that his partner stopped walking.

"Look, I know you'll miss my help if I am sick," Natalie began, her heart pounding quickly. "But I need to get this work done."

Stephen watched as Natalie moved away from him and walked over to Dr. Richards and started to open the box of medication. He was surprised at what she had said to him. He didn't care if she couldn't help him; he was worried about her being ill. He did not want to face seeing her on a cot, her face pale with illness and shivering with fever. As he joined Natalie and Dr. Richards, he made a note to himself to watch his partner closely, not wanting to lose her at all.

* * *

After a long time driving, Miles slowed the Land Rover to a stop and pointed out the windshield. "Look at those tracks," he said to Eva. "Must be where Natalie and Connor crashed."

"At least they're okay now," Eva said. She glanced past the cars that were strewn across the road in front of them and saw a man walking towards them. "That must be the resort doctor."

"Let's unload," Miles said. He got out of the car and walked with Eva to the back to get the equipment they had brought at Natalie's request.

"Dr. McCabe, Ms. Rossi?" the man said when he had approached them.

"Yeah, your Dr. Richards right?" Eva asked.

"Yes, please, we need to hurry back to the resort," Dr. Richards said. "Drs. Connor and Durant can use your help I'm sure."

"Do you have any idea what this is?" Miles said, following Eva who was following the doctor.

"The doctors seem to agree that it's malaria," Dr. Richards said. "Coupled with something else."

"Is that good or bad?" Eva asked, noticing Miles' expression.

"Depends," Miles said. "If whatever the other thing is is a mutation…"

"It'll be hard to treat?" Eva asked.

Miles nodded and then fell silent, hoping that they weren't too far from the resort.

On the ride down the mud road, Dr. Richards answered all of the questions Eva had for him about the resort and how popular it was. Finally he said, "Dr. Durant doesn't seem to be too friendly."

"When you're dealing with a serious illness like this you don't have time to stop and make friends," Miles said, looking at the doctor from his reflection in the rearview mirror.

"Is no one in the NIH human?" Dr. Richards said.

"Dr. I'm sure that you have never worked at a real hospital before," Eva said in a friendly tone of voice. When the man nodded she then said, "Well, I'm not a doctor myself, but having worked with the NIH, I can see that there are times when emotions can't get in the way of the job. Because if that happens then people may die." She felt Miles' hand close around hers and she glanced over at him, smiling slightly.

"But hopefully this time we'll keep that from happening," Miles said as he entwined his fingers with Eva's.

* * *

"Natalie, are you okay?" a voice cried, startling the doctor as she looked through a microscope.

"Eva, I'm fine," Natalie said, looking up. She saw the woman looking at her face and she shrugged. "Minor cuts. Stephen's were worse."

"I wish it didn't take so long to get here," Eva said. "You two probably could have used our help a lot quicker."

"Not that you're here, we're both glad," Natalie said. She asked Eva to bring her a bottle of a chemical to drop on the blood sample she was looking at.

"Stephen was unconscious yesterday wasn't he?" Eva asked, walking to an open box.

"Yeah, but he felt so much better today I couldn't make him stay in bed," Natalie said. "Even though I think his sleep was pretty bad last night."

"How would you know that?" Eva asked, suspicious.

"Oh, there's a shortage of rooms," Natalie said, waving her hand. "We have to share a suite, one bed. I would have slept in an armchair if Stephen hadn't told me I needed to sleep in a bed."

Eva was disappointed at that; she always had the belief that the two doctors had a strong emotional and physical attraction towards each other. "Did you get enough sleep? You look pale," she asked.

"I'm fine," Natalie said. "It's jet lag and worry… The accident was so awful, seeing Stephen unconscious was…" She shook her head and then lowered her face to the microscope.

"I would have panicked," Eva said. "But you managed to treat him and yourself."

"I'm a doctor," Natalie said. She raised her head and wrote something down on the pad of paper she had with her. "Well, this is definitely malaria."

"So that means we'll be able to treat this?" Eva asked.

"Actually not entirely," Natalie answered. "We can give them metric 21 and cytovene for the fevers, but with the other disease unknown we can't give them anything else. Too much of a risk for them."

"You can't tell what the other illness is?" Eva asked.

Taking a deep breath, Natalie shook her head. "It's not responding to any normal tests. Stephen is not going to be happy about this."

"But I'm sure he'll find the answer," Eva said. "If it's a toxin or parasite it should be easy shouldn't it?"

"I don't know," Natalie said. She got up off the chair she'd been sitting on and gripped the edge of the counter so tightly her knuckles instantly became white. "I-I think here it would be h-harder. There are a lot of things to make people sick."

"Are you okay?" Eva asked, noticing immediately that something was wrong.

"Eva, you have to go get Stephen, I am sick," Natalie said, unable to fight the faintness that was coming over her. With a gasp, she collapsed to the floor and as Eva ran to her, she whispered, "Stephen…"

Outside in the ballroom, Miles and Stephen had just finished administering the last of the medication to the sick when Eva came running from the kitchens.

"Stephen!" she cried loudly.

"What is it?" Stephen asked, his head shoot up quickly.

"It's Natalie," Eva started to say.

Before she could say another word, Stephen was running at full speed to the kitchen. When he reached the large room, he saw his partner laying on her back, her face pale and her eyes staring blankly above her. "Nat," he said gently, leaning next to her. "Can you hear me?"

"I can't, can't move," Natalie whispered. "I'm so weak Stephen."

"I'll help you Nat, I promise," Stephen said reassuringly. He carefully picked her up in his arms and turned to find Miles and Eva standing there looking at him in shock. "I don't think she has what's here. It might be blood loss like I had."

"What are you going to do?" Miles asked as Stephen started to walk out of the room and then the building.

"Give her some sulfamide, try and get her red cell count back up," Stephen said briefly. "Stay and make sure none of the sick have a bad reaction the metric." He turned his attention to the suite where he and Natalie were staying and looked down at her.

"I'm sorry," Natalie whispered in a tiny voice, looking up at him.

"Don't be, I would have been the same way," Stephen said. "Just make sure you get better, I can't read blood samples the way you do."

Natalie could only smile at that, and her smile was thin. She felt as if all the strength and energy was sucked from her body. She didn't want to be sick like this, but luckily it was only minor blood loss.

"Okay," Stephen said, placing her in the bed in the suite. "Let me get the medicine." He hurried over to the vial that Natalie had used on him the day before. He got a syringe and quickly went back to his partner.

"Stephen, the blood test from Claire," Natalie said, grimacing as she felt the needle being pushing into her skin. "There was malaria, but something else I couldn't tell what it was."

"We'll find it Nat, don't worry," Stephen said. He withdrew the syringe and then set it on the nightstand next to them. He knew that he should head back to the ill, but he wanted to make sure that Natalie would be okay.

"I think I might sleep," Natalie said as she felt her body relaxing and preparing itself for sleep.

"Good idea," Stephen said. "You'll feel better." He sat there and watched her fall asleep for a few minutes. Finally, he reached over to take her hand in his. "Get better Natalie, I'm counting on you to be by my side." He lowered his head and lightly kissed the back of her hand before he stood and left the room; Natalie's illness tugging at his heart.


	5. Chapter Five: Venture into the Jungle

A/N: Again, I am not a medical doctor, so what I will write about in this story is either gathered from the internet or made up on my own.

A/N #2: I'm so sorry that this chapter was so long in coming. I had a few problems with the chapter but then I got my second wind and was able to finish it; I just hope that it's still as good as the ones before it. And hope you'll all forgive me!

A/N #3: A huge, **huge** thank you again to the many people who left me reviews: Moon's Tear, MIlover92, sugarsnap591, Nix707, 702 Steelo, moonshine44, Arnold Summers, tinkerbell123, Teyla Sheppard, suicideblondie, Dancing By Myself, Annabelle Crane, FriendsHolic, Steelo, RaeAnne, Ellie, Maggi, JJScottishGirl and ollie-xox

Chapter Five

When Stephen stepped back inside the resort's ballroom, he was immediately approached by Eva and Miles.

"Is she going to be okay?" Eva asked quickly before Miles could say a word.

"She'll be fine as long as she gets enough rest," Stephen said. Guiltily, he pushed away the thought of Natalie and turned to look at Miles. "Any allergic reactions to the metric 21?"

"None so far," Miles answered. "It looks like Claire, the one you said was the first, is getting better somewhat."

"Is she awake?" Stephen asked. When Miles nodded, he started to walk over to her cot but then paused. "Do either of you know how to speak French?"

Surprised by the question, Miles and Eva glanced at each other before turning back to the doctor and shaking their heads.

"Claire is French," Stephen explained. "She doesn't know any English. Natalie was able to speak with her." He swore under his breath and then looked around the room. "Dr. Richards," he called reluctantly.

"Dr. Connor," the man said, walking up to the three.

"Can you or any of the people helping us here speak French? I want to speak with Claire since it appears that she is getting better," Stephen asked briskly.

"I'm sorry Dr. Connor," Dr. Richards said, shaking his head. "There were three people here who spoke French… They're with the sick."

Closing his eyes briefly, Stephen got a handle on his temper before he nodded. "I'll try and speak with her then," he said before brushing past Dr. Richards. As he walked towards the cot where Claire was laying, he could tell that the metric 21 had taken affect in most of the people. They were no longer thrashing wildly in delirium, which was a good sign. When he got to the little girl, he saw that she was struggling with the sheets that held her wrists and ankles to the cot.

"_S'il vous plaît monsieur, pouvoir je prends ceux-ci de_," Claire asked in a begging tone of voice, motioning to the bed sheets.

"Easy Claire," Stephen said. He quickly untied the four knots and then threw the sheets to the floor. He sat on the edge of the cot and then helped her sit up before he listened to her breathing for a few minutes. "Claire, now, I know that you probably won't understand me, but I need to try and ask you some questions," he began, hoping that maybe she had learned some English. "What did you do the day before you were sick?"

The little girl stared up at Stephen with wide green eyes and she shook her head whispering. "_Je ne comprends pas monsieur_," she said in a rough voice.

"Damn it Nat," Stephen muttered under his breath. "Why didn't I see you were sick?" He smiled slightly at Claire and then patted her on the arm before he stood up and went over to where Miles was speaking with one of the sick that spoke English.

"Any luck?" Miles asked as Stephen walked to him.

"No, I need Natalie," Stephen said, frowning. "That girl has to be the key to all this. But there's no way for me to speak with her…" He looked around them and then sighed. "I can't get her, but I can work on the blood that we've got from Claire. I'll be in the kitchen." He brushed past Miles and then past Eva, both who stopped to look at the angry and worried look on his face. When he walked inside the kitchens, he saw the way Natalie had left it; clean and neat; and shook his head. He walked over to the stood that was in front of the vials of blood, and started running the normal tests that his partner usually did.

* * *

Two hours after she had fainted, Natalie opened her eyes and sat up straight in bed. Even though she had been exhausted from her blood loss, that hadn't prevented her from having numerous nightmares. Her hands shaking, she pushed herself to the edge of the mattress and placed her feet on the floor.

"Nat, what are you doing?" a voice said as the door to the suite opened.

"Eva, where's Stephen," Natalie said.

"You need to get some rest," Eva said, trying to get Natalie to lie back down.

"I can't, I have to see Stephen," Natalie said, her voice getting more panicked. "He was unconscious and he got hurt in that accident."

"So did you Natalie," Eva said. "You need to lie down or else you'll faint again."

"That doesn't matter," Natalie said, standing up slowly. "Stephen has to be well to find out what we're working with."

"Natalie, please," Eva said, trying not to get frustrated at the doctor's stubbornness. "Stephen's alright, he hasn't been tired or fainting like you did. He wants you to rest so you'll be able to help him soon."

"Let. Me. Go. Eva," Natalie said in a low angry voice. She didn't even recognize her tone since she had never spoken that way before. She was surprised when Eva widened her eyes and then let go of her stepping away. "Eva, I-I-"

"I'll go get Stephen, that way you can see he's fine," Eva said calmly. "It'll take me a second." With that she quickly left the suite, slamming the door behind her.

Deeply exhaling, Natalie sat back down on the edge of the bed; feeling like her legs had turned to jelly. She hadn't meant to hurt Eva's feelings, but at the moment, Stephen was more important. Thinking about her partner, she forced herself to get back up and walked slowly over to a nearby box that was filled with various medical supplies. She wasn't sure if she needed them or not, but it was important to have them ready in case Stephen needed it for his wounds. As she pulled out some packets of gauze, she could feel her head spinning and she almost fell to the floor.

"Natalie!" Stephen said in surprise as he caught her under the arms and straightened her up. "Are you crazy? You're suffering from blood loss; you're supposed to be resting."

"Are you okay?" Natalie said, too weak to stop him from lifting her up in his arms and carrying her back over to the bed. "I haven't been able to change your bandages for a while and they need-"

"I can take care of that myself or have Miles do it," Stephen said quickly. "You need to rest and get better."

"I'm fine," Natalie said, only sitting on the bed when Stephen placed her there. "I did sleep for a while, now I'm ready to get back to help you and Miles."

"No," Stephen said sternly. "I'm not going to let you do that to yourself Nat. You need rest."

Natalie was quiet then and she watched as Stephen went back to the box that she had been looking through earlier. "Has anything happened since you brought me here?" she asked quietly.

"The French girl, Claire, is getting better it looks like," Stephen said, getting some gauze and then walking back to the bed. "Everyone else is still the same, except for a few here and there who are responding a little bit to the metric 21."

"How about Claire's mother?" Natalie asked anxiously. When Stephen frowned, her heart felt like it had dropped to her feet. "I hope to god she gets better. For Claire's sake."

"Nat, what does '_je ne comprends pas monsieur_' mean?" Stephen asked quietly as he carefully took off the piece of gauze near her forehead, a cut on her temple was bleeding again.

"It means that I don't understand," Natalie said, wincing a little since the tape that held the gauze down was catching on some hairs. "Steve, did you try and speak with Claire?" He nodded, and she sighed, "See why I need to help?"

"I know Nat, but I can't have you fainting again," Stephen said. He tilted Natalie's head to the side slightly so he could study her cut. Gently, he used his fingers to push some her hair out of the way. As he began to clean up the scratch, he could feel Natalie shaking a little. "You okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, I was just thinking," Natalie said. "That poor little girl… I don't want her to have to go through what I did."

"I'll make sure that she doesn't," Stephen said gently. He put ointment on the wound and then started cutting some gauze to put on there again. "What happened to your parents Natalie, you never told me."

"My mother caught pneumonia and my father got it too," Natalie whispered. "I was about six when they died and my mom… I guess she hadn't known because eventually I found out that she had been pregnant when she died."

"Natalie… I'm so sorry," Stephen said, surprised. He had finished with the gauze so he place his hand on her cheek gently, moving her head so they could look at each other. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Natalie said softly, realizing how close their heads were as Stephen sat down next to her. "Just remember that we both share that same pain. Both of us want to do everything we can so no one else will have to go through what we did."

"Nat, I…" Stephen began to say. He trailed off though as he leaned forward slightly. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears and he had to keep himself from hurrying to press his lips to Natalie's.

Staring straight into Stephen's eyes, Natalie was a little taken aback by what was happening. She didn't think that Stephen had any feelings for her, but now she was confused. "St-Stephen…" she breathed as he got so close their lips were touching.

The door to the suite flew open at that point and Dr. Richards walked inside, oblivious to the fact that the two doctors were sitting so close together. "One of the people helping us has fallen ill with the sickness," he said abruptly. "Dr. McCabe asked me to come and get you so you can take a look at him."

As the resort doctor left, Stephen looked over at Natalie and then got up, forgetting that he had been very much prepared to kiss her. "Stay and rest, I'll come back and check on you later," he said as he started walking back to the door.

Frowning, Natalie got up and then followed him. "I'm better now," she said firmly as he turned to her and opened his mouth to stop her. "And you need me Steve; we need to talk to Claire."

"If you're feeling dizzy or week again you'll tell me okay?" Stephen asked sternly while he and Natalie walked back to the main building. "I need your help Nat." He stopped her on the porch of the building and then helped her put on her scrubs and mask before he put on his own.

Walking close behind Stephen, Natalie looked around the ballroom until she saw the cot that Claire was sitting up on. She was tempted to go over and ask the little girl the questions she knew Stephen needed answers to, but she held back. For a few minutes she and Stephen helped the newest patient, a twenty five year old woman, onto a mattress and then check her over to be entirely sure that she had what the others did. Once she had withdrawn a vial of the woman's blood for testing, she was going to head over to the kitchens when Stephen stopped her.

"I was working on the other blood samples earlier when you fainted," he said. "But they're still going through the machines. Right now you should talk with Claire."

"Alright," Natalie said. She handed the vial to Miles, who had helped them as well, and then asked, "What do you want me to ask her?"

"I'll come with you," Stephen said. "I'm anxious to hear her answers."

Natalie nodded, and together the two of them made their way over to Claire. When they reached her, she smiled brightly at the girl and asked gently in French, 'I see that you are much better Claire. Do you think you might be able to answer a few questions we have for you?"

'Yes, but please, may I go and see my mother after?' Claire asked, tears filling her eyes.

For a moment, Natalie didn't say anything, but finally she looked over at Stephen and said softly, "She wants to see her mother Steve. I think we should take her near where she is at least."

"She won't be able to walk though," Stephen said slowly. He didn't want to say no though, so he then spoke again quickly. "But I can carry her over, just to look though."

'Claire, as soon as we're done then Stephen will carry you over to your mother,' Natalie said, turning her attention back to the little girl. 'But you can only look at her. She's still sick.' When the little girl nodded slightly, she smiled and then took her hand before she asked, 'Can you tell us about the day before you were sick? We're you doing anything that was different or new to you?'

Thinking for a long time, Claire bit down on her lower lip and then suddenly said, 'I remember that my mother and I went to the resort dinner. Before we had been eating the food in our room or in the village.'

"She said they ate at the resort dinner for the first time," Natalie relayed to Stephen.

"Ask her if the food tasted strange," Stephen said quickly.

When Natalie translated the question to Claire, she shook her head quickly. 'The food was very good, and I remember the people we were sitting with said the chef was the best in this part of the country,' she told the doctor.

"We should still test the food," Stephen said when he heard the answer. "There's still a risk it's salmonella or something like that." He thought for a moment and then suddenly remembered something. Standing up, from the edge of the cot where he was sitting, he was going to leave when he was stopped.

"Steve, we need to take her to see her mom," Natalie reminded him gently.

"Okay, but this needs to be quick," Stephen said. He leaned over and picked Claire up in his arms. "We'll let you look at her for a few minutes, but that's all I can let you do." After Natalie translated, he started walking, back through the cots and mattresses.

Natalie watched as Stephen shifted Claire around so she could see her mother lying out on her cot. The expression on the little girl's face made her heart ache; remembering her own pain when her own mother had gotten very sick.

"_Maman_?" Claire whispered softly after a few minutes of watching her motionless mother. The tears that were in her eyes spilled over and she sobbed into Stephen's shoulder.

As they walked back to Claire's cot, both Natalie and Stephen were somber and more determined then ever to find out what they were dealing with. When the little girl was back on the cot, Stephen took Natalie's arm and led her back towards the kitchens.

"I'm thinking that maybe the head chef has something to do with all this," Stephen said. "The malaria symptoms may be attributed to him and if that's the case, he could be the first to die from this."

"Or else he's in a big city somewhere, infecting others," Natalie said ominously.

"Let's hope it hasn't gotten that bad," Stephen said with a slight frown. While Natalie went inside to her 'lab,' he called to Dr. Richards and once the man was standing next to him, asked him, "You told me that the head chef was missing. Where does he live?"

"Not on the grounds like the others here," Dr. Richards said. "I believe that he lived in the forest outside of the village; the other end of course. Let me ask and make sure." While Stephen watched, he went to the last of the few workers who were sick. He spoke rapidly with the man in Thai and then turned back to the doctor. "I was right; he lives about a half mile outside the village. He hasn't been seen since our last resort dinner."

"I need to go to his home," Stephen said. "And I'm taking Dr. Durant with me. Miles," he called. When the young doctor had reached him he said quickly, "Natalie and I are going to check and see if we can eliminate the head chef from this. In twenty minutes, I want you to get these people started on some zyban."

"Will that help with the fevers?" Miles asked.

"No, that will take care of the nausea," Stephen said. "And if we're not back in an hour, then add q-profen for the coughing the patients are displaying."

"I'll do it Connor," Miles said with a nod.

Stephen walked into the kitchen then and took a moment to watch Natalie working before he cleared his throat.

"What is it?" Natalie asked, not looking up from the machine she was working at.

"We need to go out into the jungle," Stephen said. "And see if the head chef is a source."

"You don't want to take Miles?" Natalie asked, looking over at him.

"No, I need your help Natalie," Stephen said. "And besides, Miles knows how to do blood tests too. Come on."

Hurrying, Natalie was glad that her dizziness hadn't returned at all. She was anxious to get to the bottom of the disease and help Claire and everyone else. As soon as she and Stephen were outside the building, she pulled off the scrubs and mask before they left; with some equipment; walking towards the now deserted village of Clohet.

* * *

It took twenty minutes for Stephen and Natalie to get to the jungle outside the village. They had been extremely quiet during the entire walk, the houses and buildings they had past eerily silent and menacing. As soon as they were on the path in the jungle though, they finally spoke.

"If it's the head chef, what will we do?" Natalie asked.

"It depends if he's dead or not," Stephen said. "If he's not then we can try and speak with him. If he is… we'll have to turn to the blood samples."

Natalie was quiet after that, watching Stephen walk next to her. She studied him and then smiled slightly before she caught herself and looked off to the side. "Oh," she said in surprise.

"What is it?" Stephen asked hurriedly. He looked to where she was looking and saw a small building. "Damn it, Richards said it was further," he swore, knowing already that it was the home of the resort's head chef.

"Never mind," Natalie said. "Let's go and see what we can find." She started walking through the trees, pushing the branches and vines in her way aside with one arm. It took a while, but finally she stepped over a rotting log and into the clearing that surrounded the little shack.

Stephen was the first to get to the door, and he took a moment to knock, wondering if there would be any answer. There wasn't, so carefully, he tried the door and found it was unlocked, opening it wide, he tried to look inside.

"Here," Natalie said quickly as they stared into the darkness. She gave him a flashlight from her box and then took the one that was in his.

After the two slipped on gloves and masks, they stepped into the shack, cautiously, waiting for something to happen.

* * *

Back at the resort, Miles had just finished giving all the sick doses of zyban. Since he had a moment, he walked out of the building and onto the porch. "Eva?" he asked, seeing her sitting on a wood bench.

"I needed some time," Eva replied, not looking at him. "I don't know how you can stand seeing all those people sick, in pain."

"You learn to be official about it," Miles said quietly. He sat down next to her and then reached over with his hand to touch hers lightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just wish there were more of us," Eva said softly.

"Stephen told me to call NIH, but there isn't anyone to spare," Miles said. He paused for a moment and then took her hand into his entwining their fingers together. "We'll figure this out though; I know Connor won't rest until he does."

"Unless Durant makes him rest," Eva said, sounding bitter.

"What's wrong?" Miles asked, knowing that something was wrong since she and Natalie were on a first name basis.

"When I went to check on her earlier, she snapped at me," Eva said, her cheeks flushing at the memory.

"Oh, well, she was weak," Miles said. "Probably like Connor, can't stand to be weak and out of control of things. I'm sure she didn't mean it." He put his arm around Eva to comfort her and then placed his hand on her cheek.

Looking up into Miles' eyes, Eva tried to speak. Before she could get any words out of her mouth, she felt his lips on her own. She was surprised for a moment, but then let her tense body relax and return the kiss.

Carefully, Miles deepened the kiss and soon he was clutching at Eva, holding her close. After several minutes he realized that they both needed to breathe and he pulled away gently. "I… I, um…" he started to say.

Eva closed her eyes and leaned her cheek on Miles shoulder. She wished that the moment could go on forever, but her wish was soon denied.

"Dr. McCabe! DR. MCCABE!" the yell came.

Looking at each other, Miles and Eva bolted from the bench and ran back to the building.

* * *

"There's no mold anywhere," Natalie murmured, shining her flashlight underneath the tiny cot that was in the chef's shack. "This place is absolutely spotless. I mean, the only thing here is dust."

"And no sign of the chef," Stephen said with a sigh. "Well, there's nothing here, wait a second…"

Natalie looked up and saw Stephen pointing his light at a door. "A room?" she asked.

"No, I think it's like a lean-to or something like that," Stephen said. All of a sudden the light of his flashlight began to flicker. Swearing under his breath, he hit it but was soon plunged into darkness.

"There should be another light in your box," Natalie said, pointing her light at it. She waited until Stephen reached the box before walking over to the door herself.

Turning on the extra flashlight, Stephen turned around and saw that Natalie was swinging the wooden door open. His flashlight caught a glint metal and then started running. "Nat, look out!" he yelled as a warning.

As Stephen knocked Natalie to the floor there was a small explosion and then darkness as the flashlights went out.

* * *

"What is it?" Miles asked hurriedly, adjusting his mask over his mouth again.

"I do not know, she just started to shake," one of the helpers said shakily. "A-and then she breath funny."

"She's having a heart attack," Dr. Richards said quickly.

"Eva, help me get the paddles," Miles said. He started running and with Eva's help pulled the small crash cart over to the stricken woman. He turned it on and then said, "Set it at 200." Once it was charged, he placed the paddles on the woman's chest.

There was a pause after the woman's body had settled, but no change on the monitor she had been hooked up to.

"300 now!" Miles yelled, starting to get worried. He put the paddles on again and when there was no response again, he said, "350!"

Once more, no response from the woman.

A heavy silence descended on the group around her and finally Miles spoke. "Time of death 4 pm," he said slowly. He turned off the machine and picked it up, walking slowly back to the box it had come in.

"You did the best you could," Eva said softly, following him.

"Not good enough," Miles said.

"_MAMAN_!" a child's voice shrieked suddenly.

Eva and Miles looked over to the other end of the ballroom, and saw that the French girl was trying to walk over to the mattress where the deceased woman was.

"Oh god," Eva gasped, realizing that the girl had just lost her mother. She started running towards her with Miles so they could calm her.

"_MAMAN_! _MAMAN_!" Claire shrieked again and again until Miles had picked her up. "_MAMAN_!"

* * *

"Natalie! Nat! Are you okay?" Stephen asked worriedly. He quickly got up off of her and then carried her out of the shack, into the light.

"My arm!" Natalie moaned. She was holding her left upper arm and could feel intense pain their.

"Here, let me see," Stephen said calmly. He carefully pushed up the sleeve of her shirt and then saw the wound. "It's not bad, just a nick."

"What was that?" Natalie asked as Stephen placed some gauze on the cut. She winced as he applied pressure on it.

"A gun," Stephen said. Gritting his teeth, he then said, "The man had his shed booby-trapped."

"Why?" Natalie asked. She looked down at her arm and then sighed since she could see that it wasn't too serious.

"I'll take a look right now," Stephen said. "I'll get the stuff and get some more gauze for you." He walked over to the shack and grabbing his flashlight, went to the doorway of the lean-to. Peering inside, he quickly caught sight of a shelf and when he saw what was on it, he knew why there had been a rifle attached to the door with a string.

Leaning against the side of the shack, Natalie kept pressure on her arm until Stephen came out. "Anything?" she asked.

"No, but the reason you nearly got shot was because it looks like the chef was an opium dealer," Stephen said angrily.

"Opium," Natalie repeated. She hissed lightly in pain as Stephen used rubbing alcohol on her wound. "We still don't have an answer to the illness."

"You'll need to work your magic with the blood samples it looks like," Stephen said, smiling slightly at her. "Okay, you're done. Think you can walk?"

"I'm fine," Natalie said. "But we should go back." She let Stephen help her up and started walking; with him still holding her arm. "I'm okay, you can let me walk," she said, with a slightly amused tone of voice.

"Sorry," Stephen said. As they walked back to the path of the jungle, he couldn't stop looking over at Natalie.

"What's wrong?" she finally asked once they were closer to the village. When he didn't answer her, she made him stop and look down into her eyes.

"I was worried Nat," Stephen said after a moment's pause. "I thought that you had been shot."

"Well I wasn't and now I can get to work on the blood samples," Natalie said, trying not to look disappointed. She had been right in thinking that Stephen only wanted her to be well to work.

"What do the blood samples have to do with anything?" Stephen asked, confused. "I was thought that you had been seriously hurt."

"Oh…" Natalie said, trailing off. She looked at him and then started to walk down the path again.

"Wait," Stephen said. "Nat, you know that I care about you. I'd never want to see you hurt."

Staring into his blue eyes, Natalie could see that he was serious and she felt her cheeks heat up a little. "I… Thank you," she finally managed to say. She quickly kissed him on the cheek before he could say anything. "You saved my life."

Looking serious, Stephen nodded and then followed Natalie as they walked together again. He was pleased though, and had a brief thought; that maybe his partner returned his feelings; before he pushed it aside. He didn't want to set his hopes too high, in case he was wrong.

As they walked back to the resort together, Natalie and Stephen were silent, keeping their minds on their upcoming tasks. But they both decided; unbeknownst to each other; that as soon as things had been settled, they would confront the other about their feelings.


End file.
